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An Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) is a new requirement for foreign nationals from visa-exempt countries arriving in Canada by air, whether to visit the country directly or to pass through in transit.

Federal Government Confident of Meeting Syrian Refugee Target

The federal government says it is on track to meet its target for sponsoring Syrian refugees by the end of 2016.

Figures show nearly 19,000 government-sponsored Syrians have been brought in since the Liberals came to power. Add that to the nearly 10,800 supported privately, and the total figure is now approaching 30,000.

The Liberals are aiming to increase the government-sponsored total to 25,000 by the end of the year.

Refugees in Numbers (as of August 1)

Government-Assisted Refugee

16,129

Blended Visa Office-Referred Refugee

2,822

Privately Sponsored Refugee

10,762

Total

29,713

Their initial election pledge was to bring in 25,000 by the end of 2015. This deadline was extended to February, and expanded to included privately-sponsored refugees, when the government realised exactly how much support they were getting from Canadian families.

Since the initial push to successfully meet the February deadline, the numbers brought in have slowed dramatically.

The government-sponsored portion stood at 17,216 on February 29, meaning less than 2,000 have been accepted since then. This rate will have to increase significantly in order to meet the 25,000 target by the end of December, but officials are confident they will be able to achieve it.

Since March 1, 347 government-sponsor refugees per month have reached Canada. To make the 25,000 target between now and January 1, 2017, they would need to raise the monthly number to 1,210.

Not Enough Syrians

John McCallum reckons he is the only immigration minister in the world dealing with complaints about not enough Syrians being available for private sponsorship.

Othering teething problems came in schools, where teachers struggled to cope with a sudden influx of Syrian students who did not speak the language and were not used to the structure of a regular education.